Phil Collins Rehearsing for Possible Comeback Tour

Phil Collins admitted last fall that he'd been considering the possibility of a return to active duty. Now, according to Collins' longtime bassist Lee Sklar, it looks like a comeback might really be in the cards.

In fact, as he revealed in a recent interview, Sklar is currently getting ready to play in a band Collins is putting together for three weeks of exploratory rehearsals. The group, which includes Jason Bonham on drums, doesn't have any plans beyond those warm-up sessions -- but that could easily change. "If at the end of three weeks, he feels like it’s still got the old mojo, then he’ll talk to management and see what they want to do," explained Sklar. "Personally, I didn’t think we were ever going to play again, and then all of a sudden, I think he’s in a better place in his life. His two young sons, I think kind of said to him: ‘We’ve never seen you.’ And I think a lot of things came together, where he wants to test the waters."

Collins blamed chronic back pain for his decision to step away from the spotlight, and has worked sparingly over the last decade, mounting his most recent solo tour in 2005, followed by a live Genesis reunion in 2007 and an album of covers in 2010. But according to Sklar, Collins' problems weren't just physical. "I think he was just tired," he mused regarding the period following the 2005 tour. "He was going through a bad divorce. There were a lot of things going on in his life that were kind of not great. I think he just decided at that point that he needed to stop and just spend time with his kids, and be a dad -- and try to just get away from the stress."

As hardcore Collins fans are aware, one of the things he enjoys doing with his downtime is collecting Alamo memorabilia; in fact, he owns one of the world's most extensive collections -- and he recently made the incredibly classy gesture of offering to donate the whole thing to the Texas landmark. ABC News Radio reports that Collins, who earlier told the network that he'd "like the collection to stay together, and it to all be on a show" after he passes away, reached an agreement over dinner with a representative of the state's General Land Office, who was merely hoping to secure a partial donation. "To my amazement," she recalled, "He just said, 'Yes.'"

Collins' most recent collection of original material, 'Testify,' was released in 2002, and that's far, far too long a break between new batches of songs from a guy who spent decades as one of rock's more reliable tunesmiths. Here's hoping he just says "yes" again after those rehearsals.